On any given day, scan the news, and look closely at what you find – supposedly ‘normal’ people doing extremely evil things. Take today, for example, a child sex ring has been exposed and, so called, normal people are found out to be leading double lives and the parents of the children are horrified. Or maybe the story of the soldier in Iraq who, with his friends, killed an Iraqi family and raped and killed their daughter. I could go on and on and on. And all of us would be horrified. There is so much evil lurking in the shadows, lurking in the hearts of men and women, that needs to be brought out into the light.

But here is the thought, we are quick to point the finger, but the truth be known, each one of us is inherently wicked. Each one of us has the potential within us to be the most horrenously wicked man or woman on this earth. Look at the atrosities of war – normal people become monsters!

It is not until we come to the fact that it is not everyone else who has a problem but we are all part of the problem. Jesus highlighted our sin condition. He said “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” (NIV) [Matt 5:21-22] And here, Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (NIV) [Matt 5:27-30]

We(ie: the human race) are the problem! We all need Jesus to transform us from the inside out. There is no other solution to our human condition. Each one of us needs to come to the place of acknowledging our sinful condition and repenting and inviting Jesus to come into our lives and transform our very beings, from the inside out, by His Spirit. There is no other way!

Relevent Verses:Jer 17:9“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (NKJV)Prov 21:2“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes”… (NKJV)Prov 14:12“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (NKJV)Prov 3:5“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;” (NKJV)Prov 28:26“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,” (NKJV)Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” [ESV]

The below are comments from blogger Binu Abraham (he says it very well):

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These verses don’t exactly paint a picture of the type of heart that most people tell us to listen to, does it? That’s because “the heart” that we’re told to listen to is not the type of heart that we actually have. Our heart is sinful; it’s often self-centered, deceiving, and the root of evil. And yet many of us use this very heart in making decisions and finding direction in life. Listen to what Spurgeon has to say about the heart:

“There have been men who have asserted that sins are merely accidents of man’s position. But the Savior says they come out of his heart. Some have affirmed that they are mistakes of his judgment—that the social system bears so harshly at certain points that men can scarcely do otherwise than offend—for their judgment misleads them. The Savior, however, traces these offenses not to the head and its mistaken judgments, but to the heart and its unholy affections. He plainly tells us that the part of human nature which yields such poisonous fruit is not a bough which may be sawn off, a limb which may be cut away—but the very core and substance of the man—his heart.”

The heart is wicked, but so many of us live according to it. David confesses “surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” The heart, the core of who we are, has always been sinful and needs to be transformed. This can only be accomplished by trusting in Jesus, the sinless one, to transform us from the inside out. Our heart needs to be broken and reshaped to reflect the character of Jesus. This process begins at the moment we are born-again through faith, and it continues as we are in fellowship with Him and dying to ourselves – daily.

David pleads: “create in me a clean heart, O God…” and that needs to be our prayer as well. We need to understand, as David did, that such change can only happen when God works in and through our lives.

Isaiah 2:6-22[6] Surely [Lord] You have rejected and forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled [with customs] from the east and with soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines; also they strike hands and make pledges and agreements with the children of aliens.
[7] Their land also is full of silver and gold; neither is there any end to their treasures. Their land is also full of horses; neither is there any end to their chariots.
[8] Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, what their own fingers have made.
[9] And the common man is bowed down [before idols], also the great man is brought low and humbles himself — therefore forgive them not [O Lord].
[10] Enter into the rock and hide yourself in the dust from before the terror of the Lord and from the glory of His majesty.
[11] The proud looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
[12] For there shall be a day of the Lord of hosts against all who are proud and haughty and against all who are lifted up — and they shall be brought low —
[13] [The wrath of God will begin by coming down] against all the cedars of Lebanon [west of the Jordan] that are high and lifted up, and against all the oaks of Bashan [east of the Jordan],
[14] And [after that] against all the high mountains and all the hills that are lifted up,
[15] And against every high tower and every fenced wall,
[16] And against all the ships of Tarshish and all the picturesque and desirable imagery [designed for mere ornament and luxury].
[17] Then the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
[18] And the idols shall utterly pass away (be abolished).
[19] Then shall [the stricken, deprived of all in which they had trusted] go into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from before the terror and dread of the Lord and from before the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake mightily and terribly the earth.
[20] In that day men shall cast away to the moles and to the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship,
[21] To go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the ragged rocks from before the terror and dread of the Lord and from before the glory of His majesty, when He rises to shake mightily and terribly the earth.
[22] Cease to trust in [weak, frail, and dying] man, whose breath is in his nostrils [for so short a time]; in what sense can he be counted as having intrinsic worth?[ Amplified Bible]

Malachi 4:1-6[1] FOR BEHOLD, the day comes that shall burn like an oven, and all the proud and arrogant, yes, and all that do wickedly and are lawless, shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
[2] But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy.
[3] And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts.
[4] [Earnestly] remember the law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.
[5] Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
[6] And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction. [ Amplified Bible]

In the Christian life, is faith more important or is love more important?

In answer to this question you may quote “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”[1 Cor 13:13] and you would be correct, the greatest is love. But the Bible also says “without faith it is impossible to please God“ [Heb 11:6] so, it would seem, we cannot merely dismiss faith over love. This would be foolish, because faith is basic and essential in the Christian ‘faith’.

So what is 1 Corinthian 13:13 meaning? Let’s read a bit more of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 1 to 3 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” So, love is more important than faith or am I still getting this wrong? What type of faith is 1 Corithians 13 talking about? Is 1 Corinthians 13 talking about some of the gifts of the Spirit? That is, the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy, the word of knowledge, the gift of faith. I think so. You see, there is the gift of great faith that the Lord implants in people from time to time and, to me, faith that moves mountains is great faith or the gift of faith. Anyway, 1 Corinthians 13:13 isn’t excluding our faith (or our hope) but proclaiming that love is greater.

In Galations 5:6 the Bible says “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Hmmm, I think this is a key verse for me. That is, our faith in the Lord is expressing itself through our love of the Lord. Love, in our Christian life, is first and foremost and overrules all that we do, including our faith. This makes sense when we remember the words of Jesus “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”[John 13: 34-35] and in Mark 12:30-31 Jesus says“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

So, our faith comes out of our love? I think so. I believe this is true of our hope as well (but that is another story). So, the love of God fills our hearts, we respond with love back to our Lord and faith (expressing itself through our love) directs our path to those the Lord wants us to love and share the love of the Father.

May the Lord bless you today and always

Steve

We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.[1 Thes 1:2-3]

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.[1 Thes 5:8]

Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?[Jam 2:5]

Ephesians 1:18-19

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe"

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